Last update - 00:00 14/12/2007
'My world is full of colors'
By Kobi Ben-Simhon
At 1 P.M., the owner of Capzoola zooms into the store on his skateboard. He enters the colorful space of the shop, which specializes in graffiti supplies, and switches on the electric kettle. "I can't talk before I've had a cup of coffee," he says. His name is Lalo, and regardless of his involvement in graffiti, he does not want to reveal his real name (he chose to name himself after composer Lalo Schifrin; he finds it hard to relate to his real name).
Capzoola opened on Tel Aviv's Ge'ula Street about six months ago - a small space laden with paintings, spray cans and other graffiti supplies; the storefront is covered with drawings and inscriptions. The place immediately became a gathering place for graffiti artists. "The store has 120 shades of spray paint, all from the Montana Colors company in Spain, which is a world-acclaimed brand in street art and graffiti," Lalo says solemnly, stressing that his is the only store in Israel providing supplies to graffiti artists.
Lalo, 30, has always loved graffiti: "As a boy I sketched a lot, my journals were always crammed with drawings. I had hallucinations about designing the next skateboard. My mother is Danish, and I remember the art on the underground trains from our visits to Denmark. I was amazed by it. As a boy I drew Bart Simpson a lot, first in my notebook and then in the street a few times. Later I spent more time alone, so I stopped. Graffiti is an art that's fun to do together."
Every day his store attracts art students, street artists and teens. "When I opened the store I knew that it would never bring in big money, but I wanted to help others. For some of the people who come here, drawing is the whole world. Some are 'writers,' that is, their art is more textual, using mainly English, but sometimes also Hebrew letters. Above all I want to emphasize: These are not vandalistic types."
The fledgling Capzoola has also recently become a gallery, exhibiting works by graffiti artists. On its walls hang artworks whose prices range from hundreds of shekels to hundreds of dollars.
"I try to find space for everyone, not to be a rigid selector," Lalo explains, "but sometimes there are exhibitions by a group of artists or a single artist. It's very important that works also be displayed in this way. I want people who come here to recognize the artists beyond the signature they see in the street. Maybe this way they will understand how passionate we are about drawing, filling up empty and gray spaces, giving fame to walls. We don't want people to walk by and say, 'It's just a scribble.'"
How do local graffiti artists cope with the fact that drawing in public spaces is against the law? "That's not the case everywhere," Lalo explains. "In Haifa, for example, 100 meters are allocated to legal drawing every month. And there are other municipalities that try to accommodate graffiti artists, like those of Netanya and Lod. Only in Tel Aviv, which is the heart of Israel's street-art scene, is it out of the question."
Is local graffiti political, we ask. "I think that here the political issue has not taken a very strong hold," Lalo says. "We are not anarchists. Political art is much more visceral - for us these conflicts slow down the creative process. My world is full of colors, and I want to focus on painting my fantasies."